Dale Earnhardt Jr. airs it out on Parker Kligerman, finish of NASCAR Xfinity race at Roval

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an array of emotions following this past Saturday’s Xfinity Series Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval.

One on hand, Earnhardt was elated that his driver, Sam Mayer, won the race and clinched a spot in the Round of 8. On the other, Earnhardt’s heart broke for Parker Kligerman, who missed out on victory in controversial fashion.

“Look, I’m happy. I ain’t gonna bullshit anybody. Sam won the race, and I’m thrilled with that,” Earnhardt said on the “Dale Jr. Download” this week. “I thought he made a hell of a pass in Turn 7 on Parker. I like Parker. Parker’s a good damn dude, I worked with him at NBC and got to know him well.”

With Kligerman leading the race with two laps to go, Leland Honeyman ran into the tire barrier. Rather than throw the caution out immediately, NASCAR waited until Kligerman was a split second from taking the white flag, which would have made the race official. Kligerman’s team initially celebrated on pit road before officials informed them that the driver had not taken the white flag before the caution came out, thus sending the race to overtime.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Parker Kligerman: ‘It sucks for Parker’

Mayer made the pass on Kligerman in overtime to take the lead and win the race. Kligerman, who recently said the 2024 season would be his final full-time season of NASCAR racing, came that close to winning his first career Xfinity Series race. It wasn’t to be, and Earnhardt believes that could have been his last opportunity, at least this season.

“Here he is winning this race, and there’s this car that gets stuck in the tires badly,” Earnhardt said. “As bad as I’ve seen a car get stuck in tires. … This just sucks. I’m being ripped into because I’m thrilled that Sam won the race, of course. This was a perfect outcome for me. I get both cars through [to the Round of 8]. But look, what is more important to me than any of that is integrity of the sport. And it is hard to see that happen to Parker or any driver.

“You’re a foot from the white flag which if the caution comes out after you cross it, race is over. And the caution light comes on. You have spent the entire day busting your ass to put yourself into this position. And this silly chain of events is going to take it away. It just sucks for Parker. Because he has absolutely worked hard enough and run well enough to deserve to know what it feels like to stand in that Victory Lane and celebrate. I fear that he won’t get that chance, at least not this year.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. calls on NASCAR to improve officiating system

The confusion over when the caution was thrown is not an isolated incident. It’s simply the latest in a season full of officiating controversies, both in Xfinity and Cup. Going forward, Earnhardt wants to see the process more buttoned up. The NASCAR Hall of Famer called for more consistency from officials, citing the numerous incidents over the course of this season.

“We have seen over the course of this year some very tough things happen in race control that are frustrating,” Earnhardt said. “I’m hoping that this offseason, NASCAR tries to get everybody in the room say, ‘Let’s go through a process to find out how to eliminate some of these issues.’ I don’t want to be them. I don’t envy NASCAR, I don’t want to do race control. It’s not a job that people are lining up to get. But I honestly feel like — I don’t know enough about this, I’m not educated enough about this… I could not tell you the race director’s name [for any of NASCAR’s three series]. But I just don’t know who does what and when.

“You got three series, and it sounds like there’s a revolving door of race directors or the people who are making those particular calls to put the caution out. We gotta whittle it down and get some consistency. … They gotta get a bit of a handle on it to where there’s just more consistency and a higher standard and a higher expectation from us, from fans of the consistency that we’re looking for. But it’s been a rough patch, and I’m hoping this offseason maybe they can smooth it out.”